


War of the Staplers

by orphan_account



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Non-Consensual Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 00:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22006759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Yeah, I can't believe the tickling prompt is multiple chapters either.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 33
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

“YO, Bright! Where is my stapler?”

“Yo, Powell! What stapler?”

“Red swingline, office space stapler that has been sitting on this spot of my desk since you started. You keep using my desk, my stuff, where is it?”

“I swear, I am innocent. I never staple, I’m a paper clip guy.”

Dani places her hands on her hips cutting him deep with a look of adorable disbelief.

“Honestly, I have no idea what you are talking about. I’ll buy you another one though.”

“I don’t want a new one, I want that one.”

Malcolm tries not to laugh and exacerbate the situation. He figures if anyone is going to be sentimental about office supplies, it was her.

“Well, let’s retrace your steps. When did you last see the stapler?”

His humorous sarcasm causes Dani’s adorable face to fall.

“Forget it.”

She sits down with a huff. She pulls her desk drawer open, and grabs a generic stapler that only works every 4th time. The NYPD budget was there, but they were still working through a surplus of a defective 90s model that the prior chief accidentally ordered 1000 of.

Malcolm feels awful.

Malcolm sits in the chair Dani had allowed him to keep at her desk. The conference room was always booked, and he likes getting her opinion on his profiles. It seemed to be working for them.

“I’m sorry your stapler is missing Dani.”

Dani doesn’t look up from the report she is marking up. She nods, and he wants to fix this. He stares at her in silent contemplation before practically jumping out of his seat.

“Listen up people! The victim is a red swingline stapler last seen alive on the upper righthand corner of Powell’s desk. If you know anything about it’s whereabouts please come forw- “

Dani shoots around her desk, and pushes Malcolm down mid-sentence. The gathering crowd disperses as Powell shoots them a dirty look. She rolls her eyes at Malcolm and heads for the breakroom in a huff.

_____________________________________

Malcolm gives her a few minutes, but he can’t stand her being mad at him. Adrenaline swims through his limbs as he tries, and fails to give her some space.

He knocks on the ajar door waiting for her to allow him in. She motions to an empty seat with a cup of tea, steam slowly rising from the lip of the cup. He smiles to himself, happy she knew he’d follow her.

He sits, and blows into his cup. She keeps her eyes on the tiny tea leaf particles that escaped the diffusor.

“I’m sorry I embarrassed you.”

“You embarrass yourself Bright,” she responds. He sees a hint of a smile from her, but it leaves just as quickly.

“Maybe JT used it, and just forgot to put it back. He ate my tuna sandwich yesterday. Honestly, he’s a monster.”

Dani finally looks at him.

“It’s not about a stapler Malcolm. I’m sorry. Today is-”

instead of finishing her thought, she sips her tea. He watches her. His kind eyes willing her to continue. Dani looks down into the remains of her cup as she continues.

“Today is the anniversary of my overdose.”

Malcolm shuts his eyes, a pained expression painting his handsome features.

“Dani, I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

Dani puts her cup down, and folds her arms around her shrunken form.

“You should stay clear of me today Bright,” she warns, pulling at the cuffs of her blouse.

Malcolm smiles.

“Yeah, that’s not happening. Plus, I’m gonna turn that frown, upside down friend.”

Dani rolls her eyes.

“You are such a nerd.”

“I prefer geek, but as you wish.”

Malcolm sees her eyes crinkle, a smile? She stops herself. Like she won’t let herself be happy today.

“You have like 1000 hours of leave, right?”

“Something like that.”

“Why don’t you use some today. We can make new, more pleasant memories.”

Dani fixes him with a stare. She seems both interested and leery of his offer.

“You won’t get paid. Consultants don’t get PTO.”

Malcolm practically rolls his eyes, but thinks better of it.

“You think I do this for a paycheck? You are having a bad day.” Malcolm raises his eyebrows, and it earns him a beautiful, but fleeting smile from her.

“If you promise not to hate me by the end of it.”

Now he has to roll his eyes at her. He stands holding his hand out to her. She sighs moving ahead of him. He smirks to himself following her to Gil’s office.

_____________________________________________

Dani follows Malcolm to an empty bench. He sits closer to her than usual, and she doesn’t hate it. He’s been talking nonstop since they left the precinct. She reacts to his facial mimic, but isn’t really listening to him. Today is not a day for adventures with her new friend. It was a day of regret. A reminder of her momentary weakness. The day she died.

He notices her disengagement, and his words finally hit her as he moves closer placing his arm around her shoulder. He gently pulls her toward him.

“Isn’t central park beautiful?”

Dani is stiff at first. She eventually relaxes into him. She leans against him, and feels the slight vibration in his chest as he speaks. His body is like cozying up to a fire, and she closes her eyes for a minute enjoying his warmth in the cold city air.

Dani looks around. A drunk man is sleeping on the bench across from them. Several pigeons shitting on his otherwise pristine suit.

“Breathtaking,” she responds, her tone softer than usual. He laughs. She enjoys his glee. His entire body shakes as he has one last chuckle. She leans back and looks up at him. The humor leaves his pale eyes, it is replaced with something else as his eyes meet hers.

“You are,” it comes out as a whisper, and she feels her stomach drop. She sits up quickly, the warmth escapes in a crashing wave. Malcolm looks slightly wounded.

“I just-thank you for this Mal-Bright. I just, I think I should head home.”

“It’s only eleven am.” Disappointment colors his face, and she gives. She hopes he cools it with the whispering though. It’s twisting her insides up. Her last close male friend was lost when she didn’t reciprocate, and she doesn’t want to lose him. This felt different though. He was different.

She decides to give him a clue.

“Malcolm, please don’t flirt with me.”

He looks at her a bit confused. She rarely uses his first name, and he feels like an idiot.

“I wasn’t, I just. I’m sorry. It just came out. Come on, I have something else planned. My mother helped. She’s got connections.”

He holds his hand out to her, and she reluctantly takes it. Like holding her hand to a flame, the heat seems to radiate from the tips of her fingers throughout her. She shuts her eyes for a moment, and he studies her face.

“Ok, let’s go,” she starts to walk, and he has to jog to keep up with her.

“Dani, wait..how do you know where we’re going?”

“Oh, we’re not going to where your mother has..connections. Do you like hot dogs?”

“Is that a trick question?”

_____________________________________

Malcolm looks at Dani’s hotdog loaded with every topping the sweaty strange man offered her. His hotdog looks just as scary with a perfect line of yellow mustard running along it’s length. The sad truth was, Malcolm had never eaten a hotdog.

No. Not because his family was rich and therefore were above this street food fair. He simply had never had the opportunity. He ate very little. Between his multiple medications, and their lovely side effects he was lucky to keep even bland carbs down. Let alone reconstituted oblong pork products. Dani takes a big bite of her hotdog, and manages to get a smear of its contents on the side of her mouth. Malcolm smirks, and mirrors for her where to wipe. She doesn’t understand the mirror game. Clearly, she was an only child. He scolds himself inwardly for profiling her. Bad habit.

“Can I just?”

Dani moves her arms out inviting him to get close enough to gently wipe her mouth with a napkin. He backs away, his sweet smile letting her know he got it.

“Are you not hungry?” Dani asks taking another bite, careful to have debris from the hotdog fall clear of her boots.

Malcolm gulps before closing his eyes, he takes such a tiny bite Dani wonders if he just tried the bun. She laughs at him, and has to use the back of her hand as a barrier between the food and her jacket.

He almost chokes on the next attempt. He turns spitting it into the trash. He drops the remainder in the trash can wiping his hands gingerly on the same napkin covered in Dani’s toppings.

“Fuck,” he takes some clean napkins from Dani, her face is red with laughter.

“Oh, is this funny?” Dani nods, still laughing as she finishes the rest of hers. Malcolm looks at her with fake offense, mischief in his eyes.

Before she can react, he grabs her pulling her close enough to undo some buttons at the top of her jacket. She throws the remainder of her food out. She knows she may need her arms free to defend herself from whatever f*ckery he was planning.

“What were you and your mother going to feed me anyways? Frog legs?”

His face is serious as pulls her jacket out sticking his fingers beneath it.

“Yo, Bright, what the-”

She was too late. He had done the unthinkable. He was tickling her, and she was powerless against him.

She yelled at him to quit, to stop, she threatened him, but no words came fully out. Oxygen was also escaping her lungs too rapidly in the frigid air, and she collapses against him. He goes down with her, not relenting.

“Please-Sta..STO”-, he stops. She struggles to catch her breath. Malcolm is winded too, a smile shining over his handsome face as he admires her like a doofus. He helps her up, and brushes some dirt off her dark leggings. A smile still sits pleasantly on her beautiful face as he brushes some curls from her face.

“Thank you,” she says giving him a hug.

“My pleasure,” he whispers. She wonders if the floor has fallen from his feet as well as she struggles with her feelings for him. He pulls back looking at her with his endless eyes that seem to swim when he looks at her.

“Now, on December twenty-eighth, you can think of me choking on an authentic NYC hotdog.”

He grins at her, and her heart beats hard against her chest. Malcolm doesn’t like the smile leaving her face, and he moves to tickle her.

“I SWEAR TO G*D BRI-”

He puts his hands up in defeat. Dani wraps her arm around his.

“Where to next?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malcolm takes Dani to outer space

“It’s a surprise. (silence) You don’t want to know?”

“Well I didn’t, but I do now. Where are we going?”

“Outer space!”

Dani stops suddenly, and Malcolm jerks back.

He smirks. Dani let’s go of his arm, and crosses her arms over her chest. She glares at him.

“Oh, is the mother ship finally coming for you?”

Malcolm laughs. He pushes his shoulder playfully into hers, and continues walking down the path without her. He stops a few yards away to make sure she is following him. She is, but a few feet further than he’d like her to be. He turns, and waits for her. Her arms are at her sides, and as she passes him, he gently hooks her elbow with his. She stops in her tracks. Malcolm moves his hand to hers, and she accepts it.

She feels hot. It starts in her chest. A nagging heat. Dull at first, now increasing, and spreading. Up her throat, and to her cheeks. Her cheeks feel like fire. Malcolm’s brow knits, and he let’s go of her hand.

“Are you cold? You are shivering.”

Dani shakes her head.

“I feel warm,” Malcolm looks at her like she is crazy. He pulls her close wrapping his arm around her. He rubs from her shoulder, down her arm firmly. Her body still trembles beneath his touch. He lifts her chin to study her face.

She tries not to fall into the pale blue abyss of his gaze. Maybe she was cold.

“Maybe you have a fever. Or worse, food poisoning. That tiny bite I almost took did not taste kosher.”

Dani laughs. He thinks he hears her mouth ‘don’t be stupid Bright’ as she looks away from him for a moment. When she looks back at him, he smiles warmly at her. She rolls her eyes. She really does feel fine. It’s just he keeps touching her, and it’s 29 degrees out.

“I’m fine, stop looking at me like I’ll shatter.” Malcolm nods, and keeps his arm around her as he looks out into the distance.

“Come on, we’ll get a cab.”

“To outer space?”

“Yes, Dani. A cab to outer space.”

______________________________

Malcolm takes advantage of the bench seat, and sits directly beside Dani. One leg on either side of the midway hump. She squints at him.

“What? I’m like a heated blanket.”

“Hey blanket, put on your friggin’ seatbelt. Where to buddy?”

“It’s a surprise.” Malcolm hands the driver a card from his inside pocket, and slips him a large bill.

“You know what blanket, no seatbelt necessary. I drive very fast, but also safe.”

The driver takes off in a shot, and Malcolm chooses life by fastening his belt.

Dani sits with her mitted hands between her bouncing knees. She is still shivering. He takes off his own glove, and places his hand on her thigh. He lifts it as if he’d been burned.

“Oh, my G*d, you are ice. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Cause I’m a badass.” She shivers, and exhales on a laugh.

Malcolm places his arm around her shoulder. She welcomes his warmth, and leans into him shutting her eyes.

Malcolm wants to transfuse her with his own body heat. He feels responsible. He should have known. He knew she ran cold. The first time she touched him on a cool night it sent a shockwave through him. Temperature aside, she felt so nice in his arms. He hopes the driver takes the long way.

“You know, badasses feel cold, right.”

She elbows him. “Shut up and warm me up, human furnace.” Malcolm pulls her closer. They sit in a comfortable silence. It’s another few minutes before she slowly stops shivering. Her breathing steadies along the 10-minute drive.

_______________________________

“Oh, my G*d. The planetarium?” Dani laughs, and covers her mouth as Malcolm beams at her.

“Hey don’t knock it till you try it Dani, have you ever been?”

“No, actually. School field trip, but I had the chickenpox.”

Malcolm’s face light’s up.

“Were you so jealous when everyone talked about how awesome the planetarium was?”

“No. No one mentioned it.”

“Well guess where we’re going?”

“The planetarium?”

“You are gonna love it. Trust me,” Malcolm pleads with his squinted blue eyes.

“I trust you.”

Dani doesn’t know if she actually said that out loud. Malcolm grabs her hand, and they jog toward the front entrance. She thinks not, as she would be swimming in his eyes, instead of running toward his hideaway.

Malcolm stops short of the door.

“It looks closed Bright.”

“Yeah,” Malcolm replies letting go of her hand. He reaches inside his coat pocket and takes out a key. He puts it in the lock, and she looks leery. It clicks, and he pushes the door open motioning for her to go in first.

“Mother has been making healthy donations to this planetarium since they first found me here.”

“Found you?”

“Yeah, well. I ran away. A lot.”

“You ran away, a lot? Hmm.”

“You’ve met my mother-”

“Oh no, I get it.”

Malcolm laughs. He switches on a glowing foot track that lit the way to the seating area.

“When you go through that entrance, find the best seat in the house.”

“Wait, where are you going?”

Malcolm smiles warmly.

“I come here alone sometimes. I know how to start the projection, and the audio. I’ll just be a few minutes.”

“How do I know which seat is good?” Malcolm shrugs heading in a different direction.

Dani carefully makes her way inside. It is smaller in there then she thought. About sixty seats in a semi-circle.

Every chair looks the same to her. All, but one. One looks a little more worn than the others. She wonders if that is his seat. Just in case, she sits just beside it.

Dani takes her coat off. She bunches it up using it as a makeshift pillow. She can’t believe she is here with him today. Any bad memories from this date being overlaid with new pleasant ones of him. An instrumental piece begins to play. The sparse lighting dims further, and domed ceiling lights up.

It transforms into the dark recesses of space. Dani is transfixed as colorful nebulas zoom in and out of focus above her. She didn’t know the planetarium had these special effects. She thought they’d be staring at dots on the ceiling. She is transfixed.

She doesn’t notice him at first, instead she realizes he is there when she hears him speak.

“See that red planet right there?” Dani jumps, and he grabs her hand with a frown.

“That’s my home planet.”

“I believe you. Is that your usual seat?”

“You are a great detective. Look up. This is my favorite part.”

Dani watches Malcolm’s eyes reflect the distant galaxies. The projection speeds up, and millions of tiny stars turn into streaks. Dani follows his view.

The visual slows down, and Malcolm looks over at her.

Where there had been sadness earlier, he now saw only contentment. Her dark eyes brilliantly mirroring the intricate patterns of the night sky.

Dani peeks over at him feeling his stare.

“You’re missing it.” She takes his hand, and looks back at the ceiling.

“No, I’m not,” he confesses. She shoots him a confused look, and squeezes his fingers before looking back at the stars.

By the time it ends Dani is actually kind of sad.

“That’s it? That was like 10 minutes.” Malcolm smirks squinting at his watch.

“Dani, that was like. It’s 3pm now. Did you like it?”

Dani shyly nods. She looks away from him.

“Can we watch it again?” Dani asks, almost embarrassed.

Malcolm is so excited he looks like he may burst.

“REALLY?!”

“If you can chill.”

“I’m chill. I’m so chill. I’ll be back.”

“Malcolm-”

Her using his first name has a different effect on him this time. He likes the way it sounds as it leaves her mouth. He leans closer to her.

“Turn the music down.” He nods, and takes off.

________________________________

Malcolm returns to find Dani standing. The projection starts, the sound down to a whisper.

“I wanted to steal your seat, but I felt bad. So-”

“You can have it. It is the best seat”

“Well, these seats are pretty big. I figured we could share it,” by the end of the ask Dani’s voice is barely audible, and she wonders if he also hears this odd ringing.

“Dani, please don’t flirt with me.”

His sarcasm stops the ringing in her ears long enough for her to smack his chest. He smiles, raising his hands in defeat.

“I would love to share my seat with you.” He runs his hand down from her wrist to her slender fingers using only his fingertips to guide her behind him. He lays back onto the cushions.

“I don’t want to squish you.”

“This was your idea, come on. I promise you, I’m not made of glass either.”

Dani thinks about the line she is crossing. She ignores that tiny voice, carefully climbing beside him.

She is on her side, and Malcolm let’s out a low groan as her cool skin hits his. He encourages her to entangle herself with him. Their legs entwine, and she finds a comfy spot leaning her head against his chest to watch the artificial night sky.

She notices he is staring at her instead of the screen. She looks back at him. Those damn eyes of his.

“Thank you for today Malcolm.”

“My pleasure.”

They watch the rest of the show enjoying their closeness. She runs her fingers tenderly across the dull scaring of his wrists. He closes his eyes overlaying those awful memories of his captivity, with her delicate touch. She covers his hand with hers, and he brings her hand to his lips. The lights come up. The projector stops. Other than lowering her hand, neither of them makes a move.

“I know why you ran away to this place. It’s so peaceful.”

“It’s more than that. The first time I came here it was for heat. I had been wandering aimlessly for hours, and kind of mixed in with a group of kids about my age going on their field trip. I was older, but I looked young.”

Dani brushes his hair back as he pauses taking in the details of the memory.

“It was snowing. The kids had so much snow gear on, no one could tell I wasn’t one of them. The bus said Bronx Elementary 304.”

Dani stops stroking his hair, staring at him in disbelief.

“What year?”

Malcolm shrugs.

“What? You remembered the markings on the bus, but not the year.”

“Ok, maybe 2004.” Dani blanches.

“December?”

Malcolm smiles at their missed encounter.

“Chickenpox, huh?”

“I’m sorry I missed it now.”

“Well, would you believe the only empty seat was the one you were just in? The one right next to me?”

“No.”

“Yeah, I kind of added that last part? Good touch, right?”

“How did you know my elementary school?” Malcolm laughs, her face softens.

“The rest of it is true. We were destined to be friends Dani. The planetarium saw to that-”

Dani wraps her arms around him tightly. This silences him.

“This is the first good December 28th I’ve had in 4 years. You are a great friend.”

“Do you want to watch it one more time before the janitor kicks us out?”

Dani nods, and they try to untangle themselves. Dani offers her hands to lift him out of the chair. At least he thinks it’s for that, but instead she pulls him to her. Her head is against his chest. It is a quick hug. He wonders if the small gesture means as much to her, as it does to him to have companionship like this. She let’s go, and plants a soft kiss on his cheek before claiming his seat as her own. She spreads out.

“Tell no one of this Bright.”

“Tell them what?”

Malcolm walks away content to share this closeness with her. To keep their relationship private. What relationship. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up that it will ever be anything more than this. He doesn’t want to scare her off.

His wrist still tingles from her touch. It’s dark origin dulling with each gentle stroke, every kind word she speaks.

He watches her from the entrance for a minute. He wonders if she still wants to cuddle.

Today she needs this intimacy, and maybe tomorrow she will accuse him of post-it larceny.

“Malcolm, come warm me up,” Dani yells into the darkness. 

He carefully lays next to her, but due to her position, kind of on top of her too.

Dani laughs, and moves a bit to give him some room.

“No, don’t move, I’m swimming in room right now. Is that your breast? I am sorry, I touched your boob. Very nice by the way. I am working with a very small space here.”

Dani is laughing so hard it takes her a minute to respond to him. She is still trying to slink out from beneath him. He is heavier than he looks, and not helping as he enjoys her laughter.

She stills, an evil gleam to her dark eyes. They look like amber beneath the projection. She sticks her hand underneath his knee.

“Wait, wha-”

It was too late. How the hell could she have known he was ticklish there. It not only gets him off her, he falls to the floor. Dani covers her mouth in a panic.

“Oh, sorry, are you okay?”

Malcolm grunts, and rolls over. A tear running from his pale eye, as he struggles to catch his breath. His face is apple red, and when she moves toward him, he folds into himself for protection.

“Bright. (she struggles not to laugh) Come on, I just want to help you up.”

Something in her tone tells him not to trust her. He hesitates, but accepts her assistance. She helps him stand. She smooths his jacket, wrinkled slightly from his roll on the floor.

“Two things Malcolm. One, I know where you are ticklish now. Don’t f*ck with me. Two. Don’t tell anyone I like planetariums. I will kill you if you hurt my street cred.”

Malcolm squints at her in thought. Maybe she doesn’t want to hide him.

“Planetariums are cool Dani, have you not been paying attention?”

“Yeah, and if everyone knew that, where would we runaway to?”

“I promise not to tell if you let me lay first this time. No tickling revenge, I promise.” Malcolm wonders if she is aware she used the word 'we,' or if he just imagined it.

“You better, or right in the business.”

Definitely 'we'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to s3lah for the great prompt. Thanks to Caroline for encouraging the planetarium angle when I recalled I had never been to one personally lol. also to atomrealm who I am practicing your prompt a bit here.


End file.
